Going to Korea

[Spadesy]

No, not North Korea, the one without the famine and suffering and guy who looks like the winner of the annual Asian Elvis Presley Impersonation contest.

Going to a course for about 5 days, but we'll be staying in a hotel because there's no room for lodging on base. It seems the classes will only go from 0800 to 1600 so I'm guessing we're going to have some down time around Yongsan in Seoul.

Anybody ever been? Can anybody recommend pointers for wandering about?

[The Million Dollar Prons]

I suggest you go to pyongyang, it's really gorgeous though and has a lot of sights like the U.S.S. Peublo (the story about how the captain avoided death because he was bending over to tie his shoes always cracks me up) and of course the magnificent architecture.

[Rain]

Dusty, I hate you. Promise to bring me along and I'll retract my former statement.

[GreatNekoKoneko]

...whoa. Dusty. where did this come from? anyway, don't forget to enlighten us with your tales of drunken revelry when you hit the town.

also, you COULD meet Tenou. i'm just saying.

[Mag]

I suggest you go to pyongyang, it's really gorgeous though and has a lot of sights like the U.S.S. Peublo (the story about how the captain avoided death because he was bending over to tie his shoes always cracks me up) and of course the magnificent architecture.

Pyongyang is in the wrong Korea, dude.

[Jia]

Neko's avatar makes me dizzy...

Other than that YOU LUCKY SOD. I want to go overseas too!
Have a good time.

[Tenou]

also, you COULD meet Tenou. i'm just saying.

I'm about 4 hours away, in Daegu.

If you're going to Seoul, you can't miss Yongsan electronics market. It's heaven for computer geeks. Soul is pretty Westernized, a lot of people speak some English. If you have a day, you should go to a temple, they're amazing.
Military get treated differently from teachers, so I don't know what kind of experience you'll have.
And unfortunately, that's all I know if Seoul. If you were going to Daegu, it'd be completely different. Oh, but while your here you have to try soju.

Might as well throw this in too... be careful. There are a lot of people pissed at Americans because of the beef agreement. I was warned last week to stay away from any protests and to just take care. And I'm not even American. But a foreigner's a foreigner.

[Spadesy]

Rain, if I were still in VC, I'd stash you away in a dufflebag only to get busted by customs for human trafficking - but it would be so worth the laugh. XD

Mag, I'm pretty sure Prons meant the North - just telling the stories like he does for 'Nam.

Thanks Jia.

And thanks Tenou. Don't worry, we were already briefed about the potential threat to military traveling to South Korea because of the beef import situation...I hear their protests get quite rowdy too. Okinawans just have organized, peaceful protests for an hour then go home. South Koreans will protest just about anything and use molotov cocktails on police vehicles. Half joking.

I'm not too concerned about somebody starting trouble with me, though. I tend to look very non-military when I go out in town in civilian clothing. ;)

I'll check out the Yongsan electronics place, thanks for the heads up.

[Trefellin]

Mag, I'm pretty sure Prons meant the North - just telling the stories like he does for 'Nam.

I remember Korea. The way those damned Chinese swept up the hill, thick as ants.

[Haro!]

Dusty, I hate you. Promise to bring me along and I'll retract my former statement.
Dude I am so planning a trip to Korea just so I can take Rain with me ;) ...that sounded a lot dirtier than I intended.

[Spadesy]

You know what sucks about Seoul?

Nothing. (Well, so far)

There's two things that Korea definitely has right: 1.) The food. A lot of it is spicy but these are the only people in the world who say "know what what this **** needs...a sunny-side-up EGG on it!" Brilliant. And 2.) The women. By far the best I've seen in my travels.

The first night we got here we went to a pub called Geckos at Itaewon (a district renowned for its good night life and prostitution, I hear), where we were waved at by some girls sitting at the bar. We talked with them for a bit, ordered some drinks, and apparently they were on vacation from Busan, at the southern-end of the Peninsula. We were able to secure phone numbers for Friday night.

That was a great start to a night for me. In Okinawa, the locals generally don't want anything to do with the military or are far too reserved. In Seoul, the locals hang out with military types at night on a frequent basis. Also, there are like, no Marines around here. Korea is 99% army territory. I like the pleasant looks we get when people discover we're not army soldiers, and I like the confrontational looks we get when army MPs who wander around the bars check my I.D. (One of the bouncers at the front door insisted I was underage, despite me pointing out my birthdate on my card 4 times...he finally gave up and let me in - douchebag). Anyway,

My 2 other friends were quickly distracted by two Romanian girls who were exchange students there. Nothing happened with them that night from what I recall, but my friends were able to get phone numbers from them so they could meet again Friday night.

One of my other friends got a little too much "courage juice" in him and ended up dragging a chubby lady with him back to the hotel. Word is there are incriminating pictures. I visited his room later that night, to find the chubby chick was dipping toilet paper (yes, toilet paper) into alcoholic beverages. Then she slammed the glass on the table several times, took the toilet paper, and threw it on the ceiling where the big wad stuck for the entirety of the night. Okay, I said to myself, he seems quite busy getting the piss scared out of him - I was too. I came back an hour later after grabbing a bite to eat and heard screams in the room. I knocked and the first thing I hear - "It'll be a little bit!" I couldn't wait to see him do the Walk of Shame the following morning.

I seriously can't make this stuff up if I tried.

Other than that, classes are boring and give us headaches, but we make up for it later.

I'll post pics later.

[Jatz]

I came back an hour later after grabbing a bite to eat and heard screams in the room. I knocked and the first thing I hear - "It'll be a little bit!" I couldn't wait to see him do the Walk of Shame the following morning.
He saw "her" using the bathroom standing up "after"?

Other than that, classes are boring and give us headaches, but we make up for it later.

I'll post pics later.

Not the incriminating ones I hope? :x

[Sendo Takeshi]

My friend actually enjoyed Okinawa and the locals were pretty open with them. Dude actually misses Okinawa a lot, too.

[Spadesy]

He saw "her" using the bathroom standing up "after"?


Not the incriminating ones I hope? :x

I'll limit anything I say to double-speak. I could tell ya that much. ;)

Sendo, your friend must be a wise one that either A.) Knows Japanese or B.) Truly misses what it has to offer. I'm hoping both, that's the best way to get around the island.

[Sendo Takeshi]

Sendo, your friend must be a wise one that either A.) Knows Japanese or B.) Truly misses what it has to offer. I'm hoping both, that's the best way to get around the island.

Yeah, he was both. The latter is kinda lolz because he only misses the arcades. lol

He just recently got stationed out in SoCal. Suffice it to say, he's bored and angry.

[Spadesy]

PICS ya humb hobags.

Gecko's Pub in Itaewon, this is where we spent many of our nights (including our first) on the prowl.

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/8793/ld84690a55f877c8a7654a5aw6.th.jpg (http://img156.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ld84690a55f877c8a7654a5aw6. jpg)

Confirmation that we were, indeed, in Itaewon.

http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/9280/l7508d6dfb71a446f41a5c5xm2.th.jpg (http://img57.imageshack.us/my.php?image=l7508d6dfb71a446f41a5c5xm2. jpg)

Wait a minute...a Hooters? In Korea? Well...kind of. ;-)

http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/8818/l54e2ac87d07b27cbf2502etn3.th.jpg (http://img241.imageshack.us/my.php?image=l54e2ac87d07b27cbf2502etn3. jpg)

This is Gecko's, inside again. (Our crew was also in Hard Rock Cafe that night when Run DMC was there, who apparently consumed so much alcohol that we didn't know what the hell he was saying...anyway):

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/9985/lc25c04851bb8cf077a03cemx0.th.jpg (http://img156.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lc25c04851bb8cf077a03cemx0. jpg)

Bouncers are tough.

(http://img241.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lf239d21d0c3e2d256407a2jq8. jpg)

A picture of us and some girls that followed us from Helio's on ladies' night. One was a tranny, the other had a boyfriend, the one by Oki kept attached to Oki...I was with Soi, the one in the center. She's a nurse. :-) :

[IMG]http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/2364/l00a585e9f20b7205a7a5b8ei4.th.jpg (http://img57.imageshack.us/my.php?image=l00a585e9f20b7205a7a5b8ei4. jpg)

[GreatNekoKoneko]

...dusty. life is good.

[Spadesy]

I'm telling ya, man. Korea is one of the few countries on this side of the world where the cute ones who go with foreigners are not "working girls" if you catch my drift. Just regular people. It's nice.